Revery of Madness (Doctor Who)

I - Descend

River was still alive.

Then again, Roka couldn't imagine she would have let herself be killed so easily. Not even by the Master. Both stood there, lots of space between them, and clearly not willing to exchange a single word.

For once the Master wore a coat over his usual attire. It was black in colour and ended just at his thighs. It was more a choice of style than of warmth. Suffice to say, though, the Master looked outstanding in it, not helping the previous situation at all.

Roka pinched her eyes for a second and scolded herself inwardly to get her act together. At least until this adventure would be over. It also was extremely unhelpful how River tossed glances at the two as if she sensed what was going on between them.

Not that she said anything about it, and for a good while they didn't talk much at all, too busy fighting their way through the thick snow. River used a scanner to determine a path that wouldn't let them stumble into snow-covered holes or other vexations.

After what felt like hours had gone by, they slithered down a long slope of mushy snow, deep into the belly of the once proud buildings around them. Darkness lay itself like a blanket over their heads the farther they went and Roka finally asked what exactly River was searching for.

"Just some kind of signal," she explained, gesturing towards the blackness ahead. "There is supposed to be remnants of the civilisation that used to live here, and I want to study them. They do have a rather fascinating history, from what I've heard."

"Yikes! History lessons," the Master complained with an eye-roll. "And why do you even bother with the long walk? You've got a Vortex Manipulator, don't you?"

"Uh... spoilers." River smiled teasingly and shook her head. "No, I'm afraid, right now I don't. I'd love to get my hands on one though. This would make things soooo much easier."

"Yeah... it really does," Roka seconded with a smirk, but didn't show her device to the woman. No matter what they had experienced together, so far, they still couldn't be sure River had good intentions. Hell, she wasn't even so sure the curly woman was a good person at all.

Then again... She glanced sideways and stopped herself in time from sighing. The Master also wasn't a good person. She could definitely deal with that.

While speaking they walked and climbed into and over remains of buildings, tunnels and crumbling walls of dark grey metal. The whole city seemed to be made of it. That and concrete. Everything was also weirdly "decorated" with patterns that reminded Roka of circuit boards, spreading like thin arms or tentacles over the crumbling ancient walls around them. One time they halted, so River could check something on her tablet and Roka took off one of her gloves to run her fingers over the patterns. They felt cold and let an unexplainable uneasiness settle within her bones.

"Oh! I think I found something!" River called out and waved them over with her flashlight. When they were close enough she shone the light into a hole of debris. "There is a shaft to the lower levels. We might really get to the heart of the place."

Roka got to her knees and peeked through the hole. The spare light illuminated broken concrete and stone, more circuit board patterns and wires hanging down into the depts. Her eyes didn't reach far into the darkness below, but she could literally sense the wide space in front of them.

"Yeah, sure. First we climb through all this mess and then you want us to throw ourselves into a bottomless pit." The Master grunted. "Any more fabulous ideas on how to kill us?"

"Come on, Master," Roka teased and tossed him a grin. "As if you wouldn't want to know what's down there." She pointed towards the hole. "To me it looks like they built at least as far down into the earth as they built up into the sky. There could be who knows what. Secrets, mysteries, the source of infinite power..."